Snapped Bones
by SunMoonAndSpoon
Summary: One freezing winter's night, Mikami has an unfortunate encounter with a reindeer.


Nana: Here's a short and rather…strange piece, which I wrote for a Death Note Advent Calender project on Livejournal. My prompt was reindeer, so of course, my sick little brain had to turn that into something angsty and bizarre. In this story, Mikami gets mauled by a reindeer. Merry Christmas.

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Snapped Bones

By SunMoonAndSpoon

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It has been a long day, a bitterly cold and unpleasant day. Teru has had to break routine several times due to the weather—the gym was closed and he couldn't go, the busses were running sporadically, so he had to take the train to work, which made him late. Also, he had been forced to close the windows at a time other than the one normally prescribed for this activity. It was too cold, and though he knew it didn't work that way, he feared becoming ill.

The interruption of routine has thrown him off more than he cares to admit. He is reluctant to do anything more that day, though of course he must work to serve lord Kira. Due to having to stay late at work to deal with a client, he is behind on eliminating criminals. He intends to catch up immediately, but ten names in he finds himself in need of food. There is nothing in the house worth eating, since today was grocery day, and again due to late work he couldn't go. Take out places won't deliver in this kind of snow, so if he wants to eat, he must leave.

Teru puts it off for about an hour, but he can only ignore his hunger for so long. His stomach is roaring, and he feels light-headed—he has not eaten since morning. Finding himself with no other option, he dresses himself and heads outside. The wind is so fierce he feels as if he's being beaten, so he readjusts his scarf, ensures that the ends line up and his face is covered. The snow nearly blinds him, and his glasses fog up from the scarf. He cannot see what's coming up, and there is no reason for him to expect it until it knocks him to the ground.

It's a huge, stamping creature that he can't identify and is too busy gasping in pain to attempt it. His chest is caving in from the kick, he can't breathe and the hulking beast is getting ready to hit him again. He can feel its hot breath snorting near him, its spittle falling like acid rain on his arm. The pain of being kicked is almost intense enough to stay his panic over this. Almost. His heart is still thumping in his chest.

Teru shuts his mind down, lets the beast tear him to bits. He does not understand what's happening or why, but he gets the feeling that God wanted this, and so he does not fight it. He can't fight it, anyway, he is being trampled, bitten, and gored, and when he finally catches a glimpse of it he sees Christmas. A reindeer. His mother laughing over the story of Rudolph, imported from the west. And now her death is in his eyes. His own, too. He cannot even process the pain anymore.

One last bite from Teru's arm, and the reindeer totters away, kicking snow in his face and snarling. It's spitting, rabid _(rabid, RABID, could it possibly be rabid?!) _and Teru can't call after it, can't call for help. He can only lie there in the snow, curling into himself and trying to ignore the snapped bones and bruised muscles. He feels around for his cell phone, tries to avoid touching it with the raw, skinless parts of his hands.

He does not recall the number for emergency services. He tends to block out the things his mother taught him, useful or not. All that comes to mind is Kira's number, and so that is what he dials on his phone. God will save him; Teru has served him well enough.

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"What in the world is this?" Light asks, laughing softly as he holds up a poorly knitted sweater, dotted in barely recognizable lumps of reindeer. "Did you make this, Sayu?"

Sayu blushes furiously, mumbles something about this being her first time trying to knit anything. "I just didn't have any money, and I wanted to give you something for Christmas…I didn't really finish in time, so it's kind of late, and it's not very good so it might not fit. Sorry. I should have just gotten Mom to make it or something."

"No, no, I like it," Light assures her, tugging it over his neck. It takes some effort, since the neck hole isn't much bigger than the sleeve holes, but he manages. The reindeer are overstitched at the mouth, giving them a rabid look, and Light can't help but laugh at this. "It's excellent for a first try, though you should have listened to Mom and started with a scarf or something easier. Anyway I really appreciate it. Thank you, Sayu."

Sayu grins widely, and Light wonders when it would be appropriate to take this horrid thing off. He refrains, though, he has not seen his sister in several months, and the last thing he wants is to set off alarm bells by acting like a jerk. So he sits chatting happily with his sister for as long as he can stand it, ignores his phone as it bleats at him from inside of his discarded jacket.


End file.
